Monday, July 11, 2005

Monday Madness-Marching mayhem

'It seems that Loyalists are once again intent on raising tensions in Ireland's north. A shooting war would be a horrible thing to once again go through. With organisations like the Orange Order intent on celebrating the violence of the past, can we really say that the Orange Order is a harmless presence in modern society'?

The above lines were written by myself in this post I made on United Irelander on Friday, July 1st, a week and a half ago. Some contributors to this site criticised me for my post and for associating Loyalists with the Orange Order. Well, as we prepare for the 12th of July parades which get underway tomorrow, here is a list of Loyalist attacks on Catholic targets which took place over the weekend:

- A Catholic woman was forced out of her home in the Co Antrim village of Ahoghill yesterday.

- Sectarian graffiti has also been daubed on a Catholic church in nearby Ballymena.

- Loyalists in Belfast tried to set fire to a house in Ardoyne where a public meeting was held at the weekend to discuss tomorrow's parade in the area.

- In the east of the city, loyalists have erected loudspeakers to broadcast sectarian music across the peaceline into the grounds of St Matthew's Church in the Short Strand.

- A growing feud between the Ulster Volunteer Force and Loyalist Volunteer Force, meanwhile, is threatening to add to the tensions. One man was killed overnight and a second was seriously injured in two shootings that are being linked to the feud.

So I was out of line associating Loyalist violence with the Orange Order's celebration of past violence, is that right? I don't think so!

I repeat, with organisations like the Orange Order intent on celebrating the violence of the past, can we really say that the Orange Order is a harmless presence in modern society? The answer of course, is no!

These parades are simply bad news and we can only hope that no one is hurt.

Tonight of course there is the eleventh night bonfires and many Unionists will take my nation's tricolour and shove it on a bonfire in glorious recognition of their outrageous sectarianism.